The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-10-20
THE CITY OF NANTES.
A PEOPLE WHOSE COSTUMES ARE
OF ECCENTRIC DESCRIPTION.
A Refuge from the Artificial Lille Al the
French Cspitsi-A Homelike Meal At
Ho,eI-Principai BUSINESS street-A
Royalist's Opinion Of the city

French fapHai-t n"hehHe "'"' -
Ho,eI-Principai BUSINESS street-A
RoyaIist. Opinion Of the City
Nantes takes q certain character from
the sea from the fishermen and from al
the queer types Of humanity who dwell
along the coast Of this department ana OF
Morbihan well on up toward Brest The
costumes Of these people are of the most
eccentric description, so much SO that II IS
said that nowhere else in France can there
be seen such n variety Some are strik-
inely picturesque Thete is the peasant
woman. for instance. whose business II Is
TO cultivate early potatoes in the sand
near NOirmOutier and bring them TO mar
ket She wears a skirt coming just below
the knees. a small cap. some sort of apron,
checked or otherwise, and has the
foot. ankle and calf entirely exposed, or
shoes or sabots neatly polished and stock
inQs closely fitting and often OF intricate
pattern The shoes and hosiery are their
/ special weakness, and il is not rare 10 see
among them "A we'll made foot and ankle
| The entire costume is commonly In sober
col0rs and neatly kept ON the contrary,
you see little girls with long skirts COM
/ Ing to the soles Of the shoe. who look as if
they had Just stepped from one Of Van
dykes portraits
As a specimen of the male costume Of
Morbihan. we have the low crowned,
round topped hat Of velvet. or of straw or
felt bound with velvet, very iaunty, or
rs the French would say, chic. The
Jacket is something like the voluminous
exterior garment OF our ancestors Of the
Seventeenth century. but jacket all the
same, and gay with rows of buttons so
thickly set that they overlap one an
other The collar Of the shirt is as broad
as ships mainsal II is open in front
and rises stifiiy mp behind the head. serv-
ing as background TO a face that is the
picture Of innocence and as quaint rs the
costume itself
1t j. pleasant relief TO get away from
the highly artificial life and the highly ar
tfcial articles Of food and drink at Paris
even to stupid and not over clearly place
like Nantes. The country offers its treas
ures more generously than the city. u is
pleasant 20 know that the wines, If they
are not Clos Nougeot. Pomard. Chateau
Lehte or Chateau Yquen. are az least All
they pretend 10 be: that YOU are near the
place where people produce their own but
ter and lay their own eggs. where they
even put the butter on the table and sell
their milk at four cents a quart from the
wagons In the street snd az the corner
groceries II is really with hOmelike
feeling that You sit down 10 breakfast or
dinner in a hotel I'm a town in Aniou, OF
m the hotel AZ Nantes on which ! be
slowed my humble patronage The still
ness that peryades the dining room is sol
emB You hear two or thee flies buzzing
behind the lace curtains that drape the
windows You look mp 10 the ceiling not
painted by Michael Angelo. bui by some
unimmortalized local fresco painter, in
imitation ~ the sky Nou don remen-
Der ever 10 have seen exactly such shades
of blue in the armament before But no
matter The chandeliers are attached 10
the ceiling with blue ribbons painted fiat
thereon. the ends drawn Oui sideways and
held in the beaks Of doves the species
and me sciio6f ct 6J 6cing a1rkprsnr
miiar
Into the room steal furtiyely from time
10 time Representatives Of the Naniais
solemn, funereal-who
TRANQUILITY partake of the several courses
and then steal away rs siealthily ne they
entered Perhaps there enters whole
Breton family father. mother. SONS.
dau0hters and b0nne-all Of whom make
the sion of the cross before taking their
places Their dress Is quiet and their
manners almost ~ reyerential as if they
were in church The repast is served by
the mature garcOns-one gray haired
whom YOU seem family To rccollect a.
having seen i'm the opera of The iugue-
nots. Their duty is performed decorously
and entirely i'm Keeping with the sur
roundngs. There is none OF bewardage
so often seen at French tables Ihe
cuisine is rather remarkable for rs pro
fusion than It's fine quality. thus reversing
the Partisan rule Some dishes are even
left Oh the table where persons can help
themselves Nothing could be- more
I'M Partisan The butter. is of a char
acter 10 attract attention. There are
perhaps twenty persons al table com
paratively few persons come 90 Nantes
and there are four rolls of golden
butter distributed along the table,
each weighing al least a pound. and like
everything else offered you. 10 is "a discre-
ton " Then you drink. it You are dis
posed. a whole bottle Of white or red wine
The hotel IT, / believe the best in Nantes,
and your breakfast and dinner cost You
together only five sancs "A day, while
cool room costs only three francs more.
in coming from ChOlei 10 Nantes made
the acquaintance of "a young lawyer Of
POTTER. royalist by birth aud political
preference and most charming and in
telligent travelling companion Tie said to
me Nantes is willie de luxe As
have already remarked this is not init
mated 10 the stranger There is nothing
in tine house. or shops that would indicate
il. Then a. | met him in the evening he
conducted me through what he said was
the principal business street.-The only
business street ia fact-a thOroughfare
narrow and crooked like the rest. half
mile i'm length and having on either side
commonplace shops. badly lighted and
with poor displays Of goods in the win
dows There were no carriages. but it
was filed with a crowd of pr0menaders
walking purpOsely 20 and fro and look
ing listlessly into the uninteresting
windows. a. have seen them NJ
the smaller towns of Italy on else
where in Europe There was nowhere
else 10 20. theatres being closed aud sum
mer amusements conspicuous by their
absence The rich were az the watering